Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.23.9
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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bhagavat
—
of the Supreme Personality of Godhead
Stem form. Śukadeva refuses to demote Kṛṣṇa even while reporting that the brāhmaṇas demoted Him. The narrator's reverence corrects the characters' error inside the same sentence.
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yācñām
—
the supplication
Accusative of yācñā — Bhagavān's begging itself. Verse 47 will return to this word as a wonder. Lakṣmī's husband begs and is refused — the line is structurally devastating.
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na-śuśruvuḥ
—
they did not hear
Reduplicated perfect of √śru with negation — they did not really hear. Śravaṇa is the first limb of bhakti; failure here is failure at the entry point of all spiritual life.
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kṣudra-āśāḥ
—
full of petty desire
Compound: kṣudra (petty) + āśāḥ (hopes). Diagnosis from the Bhāgavatam itself — they are not evil, only small. Gauḍīyas note: anyābhilāṣitā-śūnya is the opposite, and the wives in verse 29 will exhibit it.
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bhūri-karmāṇaḥ
—
entangled in elaborate ritualistic activities
Compound: bhūri (much) + karmāṇaḥ (actions). Karma without bhakti, no matter how voluminous, does not deliver — Gītā 4.33: śreyān dravya-mayāt yajñāj jñāna-yajñaḥ.
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vṛddha-māninaḥ
—
presuming themselves to be wise men
Compound: vṛddha (elder/wise) + māninaḥ (those who imagine themselves). False elderhood — they wear the role without the substance. Prabhupāda's reading: scholarship without surrender produces this exact disease.
These childish brāhmaṇas were full of petty desires, such as the desire to attain to material heaven, and therefore they could not recognize the golden transcendental opportunity offered them by the arrival of Kṛṣṇa’s personal boyfriends. Presently, throughout the world, people are madly pursuing material advancement and thus cannot hear the message of the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa that is being broadcast through the missionary activities of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Times have hardly changed, and proud, materialistic priests are still prevalent on the earth.
Though the brahmanas were knowledgeable of scripture, why did they not respect Krsna and Balarama? This verse answers. They actually did not know scripture, rather they were ignorant in learning and imparting scripture, and therefore they are criticized with anger for two and half verses. Having only aspirations for insignificant heavenly planets they thought themselves learned ( vrddha), but actually they were only old (vrddha).
Śukadeva gives his comments in these verses. Though they heard the request of the Lord full of all powers, which he made because of his mercy, they did not respect it since it was a request for food send through the boys. Because of their disrespect Śukadeva criticizes them in anger in two and half verses. They are involved in many rituals with insignificant desires since they have no intelligence (bāliśāḥ) and are proud. Or, they were unintelligent because they did not know that one can achieve the great goals by devotion to the Lord with little effort. Why did they not search out the truth? They thought that they had great knowledge already.
- Which learning of mine has hardened me against an actual messenger at the door?
- Where am I performing the ritual but missing the Lord who is its purpose?
Ears full of mantras, hearts full of soot — like a temple bell so loud the priest cannot hear the deity speak. The brāhmaṇas hear Bhagavān's request with the outer ear; the inner ear is buried under ritual.
When the time came to listen, King Daśaratha could not hear: Kaikeyī's words, Rāma's words, the kingdom's words all reached him, but his attachment to a single promise made him deaf to the larger truth. He died of that deafness.
The brāhmaṇas of this verse hear with the same broken ear — the syllables of Bhagavān's request enter, but the meaning is screened off by petty desire. Aparādha begins as bad listening.
My note
Source: vedabase.io